Tube-cleaning apparatus.



PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906.

' H. VAN ORMER.

TUBE CLEANING APPARATUS.

UNITED STATES HERMAN VA'N ORMER,

DIRECT AN D '-lV1ESN E ASSIGN M E a CF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT,

PATENT OFFICE.

ASSIGNOR, BY

NTS, TO LIBERTY MANUFACTURING Application filed May 12,

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HERMAN VAN ORMER, a "citizen of the United States,and a resident new and useful Improvements in Tube- Cleaning Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear,'and exact specification.

This invention relates to tube-cleaning apparatus, the object being to provide r a simple, inexpensive, and eflicient. tool operated by-steam, air, or other fluid pressure for loosening and removing dirt, scale, or other incrustationsfrom the interior surfaces of. tubes of various kinds.

Figure 1 is a side view of the .preferredembodi-mentuofthis invention, showing the casing -of:a fluid-operated motoreattached there-. to. Fig. 2 is :a central longitridinalsection of the cutter-head, and 'Fig. 3 :is aview of the inner head-plate 2 looking at itinthe dii ection indicated by.theadjacent-arrow on The diameter ofthe casing ll is slightly less than the inside diameter of the tube--af-. ter it has been cleaned, thusaifording means for stea'dying the cleaning apparatus or cutter-head and keeping it in its most effective working position. i

The outer end of the driving-shaft 1 of the motor is turned tapering at 4 for a suitable distance to receive the cutter-head, this tapering insuring a solid fit, while the counterbore in the plate 2 admits a larger diameter 17 of the driving-shaft and reduces the danger of breaking this portion of the shaft. The cutter-frame is made in two heads 2 and 3, as shown, to facilitate the ready assembling, removal, and replacing of the cuttershafts 12 and their cutters 10. The two heads of the cutter are locked together by means of the interlocking joint 13 and the nut 5, threaded upon the end of the drivingshaft, the nut also serving to secure the entire head in position upon the shaft, which is preferably provided with a key 14 for enaging with the inner head 2 to drive the frame positively. The cutter-head is provided with a suitable number of sets or gangs of cutters 1'0, and these cutters, which are usually and preferably circular with starshaped points, are mounted loosely upon the shafts 12 and are spaced loosely apart by Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906., 1903. Serial'No' 156,781.

means: of the washers 11. The ends of the l shafts'12 are loosely seated-and confined in the oppositely-disposed and inwardly-facing recesses-8 "and 9 of the arms 6 and 7 of the -cutterheads,iwhich thus form hooded bearings for inclosin the ends of the shafts, thus excludingthere rom the dirt and scale to which these instruments are exposedwhi'le in operation, and thereby preventing those seats frombecoming clogged, whichwou-ld otherwiseimpair thefreedom of their desired transverse movement.

The cutters 10 are free to rotate independently on their respective shafts, and the latterare free to rotate in their seats in the recesses, these being elongated-inairadial direction, soas to "either or both ends Oflthfi shafts. In this way therespective sets ortgan'gs of cutters can' adjust themselves freely to the various resistances in cutting awayit'he deposit of scale in the tube, the cutters being held out-.

wardly into cutting contact by centrifugal action; due: to the igh rotative speed of the cutter-heads.

As the rotary: cutter-head moves forward against the scale the resistance of the latter causes the individual cutters to rotate independently in the opposite direction, so that the action of. the cutter-points upon the scale is a combined picking and prying action, tending to rapidly disintegrate the deposit, which as it becomes loosened is blown away by the exhaust from the motor, supplemented, if need be, by the washing action of an independent stream of water, which may be forced into the tube at the rear of the motor. By reason of the inclined disposition of the cutter-shafts the several gangs of cutters present a tapering cutting-front to the scale, thereby attacking it in the most advantageous and efiicient manner.

Inasmuch as the ends of the cutter-shafts do not pass through the arms of the cutterhead plates, there is no opportunity for the shafts to cramp or bind when the radial movement at one end of the cutter-shaft is greater than that at the other end. This tendency to cramp exists in that class of instruments in which the ends of the shafts extend through slots in the heads and are held endwise to place by means of nuts or washers l in the outer sides of the heads. Moreover,

permit radialv movement of.

i s the cutters for entirely surrounding and inclosing the ends of cutter-shafts, a plurality of cuttershafts whose ends are loosely mounted in said seats and protected thereby, means for mounting and driving the cutter-heads, and a plurality of cutters loosely mounted for independent rotation on each of the said shafts.

8. The combination in the cutter-head of a tube-cleaning apparatus, of a driving-shaft having a reduced tapering seat for a cutterhead, a pair of separable heads provided with a tapering bore and with an enlarged counterbore for the driving-shaft, the heads having in their inner faces radial grooves, forming seats for the ends of a cutter-shaft, and a cutter-sh ft having its ends loosely mounted in the said seats.

4. A cutter-head for tube-cleaning apparatus, having in combination a cutter-shaft, a plurality of cutters loosely mounted for independent rotation on the said shaft, and a pair of separable heads provided with interlocking hubs, the heads having in their inner faces oppositely-disposed recessed seats for the ends of the cutter-shaft, opening one toward the other, whereby they inclose the end portion of the shaft on all sides, the said seats being disposed at unequal distances from the axis of the head, and supporting the shaft at an inclination with that axis, and the said recesses being elongated in a direction radial to the axis of the head to permit independent radial movement of the opposite ends of the cutter-shaft.

Signed at Hartford, Connecticut, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 11th day of May, 1903.

HERMAN VAN ORMER.

these slots through the heads afford an entrance through which the scale and dirt can work back into the journals, and thus interfere more or less with the free action of the cutters.

This arrangement of the cutter head or frame composed of two separable heads united by an interlocking joint permits the employment of the inwardly-facing seats which inclose the ends of the shafts and prevent the direct access of dirtto the rotating and sliding portions of the cutter devices and permits the ready removal and replacing of and their shafts. The interlocking joint serves to insure the assembling or replacement of the heads in proper position, so as to bring the respective pairs of seats for the cutter-shafts in proper relation to each other, while the joint serves also as a positive driving connection. These features of con-' struction combine all the advantages of a sectional or built-up head in respect of manufacture and assembling with all the advantages of a solid head as to firmness of structure and positiveness of action.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination in the cutter-head of a tube-cleaning apparatus, of a pair of interlocking heads, having in their inner faces radial grooves forming seats for inclosing the ends of a cutter-shaft, a cutter-shaft whose ends are loosely mounted in said seats, and entirely surrounded and inclosed thereby, means for mounting and driving the said heads, and a plurality of cutters loosely mounted for independent rotation on the said shaft.

2. The combination in the cutter-head of a tube-cleaning apparatus, of a pair of separable heads provided with interlocking hubs, the heads having in their inner faces radial grooves forming oppositely-disposed seats Witnesses:

JAS. W. GREEN, WM. H. HoNIss. 

